Building deer rifle for Upstate NY
 

I have a large collection of weapons and came up with a pair to become my starting points and wanted advice / warnings.

I picked an inexpensive Remington 770 in 300 WinMag as the starting point for deer. I bought it from a friend who thought it was a decent starting point for a magnum round target weapon. The action feels smooth, which is something I worried about since it is much less expensive than my pair of 700 PSS's and google brought back a lot of hits of people complaining about the bolt and action. Trigger pull does not seem to have any "hitches" to it, so I don't plan to replace the trigger group. For a scope, I found an extra Leupold Mark 4 LR/T 3.5-10 M3 and I put that on top. I have an email off to Leupold Customer Service to ask if they have turrets in 180 grain 300 WinMag; as I just moved to NY and appear to have lost my extra turrets. Right now it is of course set as 168 grain 7.62 NATO. Does anyone else make turrets for that scope? I have used Kenton's Tuned Trajectory Compensators in the past. I also think I should try to find a gunsmith to add a JP Enterprises Muzzle Brake or some other muzzle brake.

A second weapon choice if the 770 is a bad choice is a beautiful Remington 700 Classic I own in 338 WinMag. It was already magnaported and has a Nikon hunting scope on it. I was just worried that 338 WinMag would do too much damage to the meat and was really more for Elk hunting in the Rockies.

IMO a 300win mag is too much gun for deer,especially in NY where the majority of your shots are gonna be under 200yds.I think if you're build the gun the 700 action would be a much better choice.

If I were you, I would forget totally about doing anything at all with a 770. You can download or shoot factory 200 gr. ammo in the .338 for deer without anymore devistation than a 30-06. Been there... done that.

Save your money and as Jerry recommended, start with a 700.

Use the 770 for a boat paddle or a door stop and use the 700 for hunting.

This can't possibly be a serious thread.

You have two PSS's and a magnaported 700 classic .338 win mag and you happen to have an "extra" Leupold Mark IV that's sitting around to top the 770 with and you are contemplating custom turrits for this rifle.

Doesn't really add up.

BB,

It's Larry, he's back...........is that you Relentless ?


Snappo ???

Exactly what I was thinking.

NO, it's not legal (should not be)...or at the least it's rather absurd.

LOL, I lived in Upstate New York for 27 years before moving to Rhode Island. Upstate New York consist of a lot of WOODS and TIMBER (depending on where you hunt) Most feilds are not over 400 yds. across (Some are) Most opportunities that you will get at shots in Upstate NY will be 200 yards or LESS. There is nothing wrong with a 30-30 for hunting in Upstate NY. With that being said there is nothing wrong with a 308, 30-06, or 300 win mag. I just feel you don't need that much gun in most hunting situations in Upstate NY. I used to hunt with a 30-06 up there (near Parrish, Pulaski and West Monroe areas) The 30-06 was more than adequate and in my opinion, too much gun. I switched to a 30-30 and that seemed to fit the bill better. I could push my shot to about 185yds if i wanted to, but seeing that I would never get that kind of shot off in the forest, even my 30-30 was not getting full use of its potential. The longest shot I made at a deer with my 30-06 was about 67 yds. The shortest shot was about 11yds. Depending on where you are hunting in NY and Im going to say (more than likely) You will NOT need such a caliber as a 300 win or 338. ......There was however a time when I had to bring out my .416 Rigby in Tully.........It was the year they had the attack of the "Mountain Elephants" That was in 1996 and they say they don't come around but every hundred years or so. So I doubt you will have to dig further into your arsenal and get your 505 Gibbs with a shepard scope anytime soon.

LOL!!!!!!!!!! thats some funny stuff there.Upstate NY is the only place i've ever hunted i used a 30-30 for years until the guys i hunted with broke my chops about hunting with that "pea Shooter".I bought a 30-06, you know the 06 didn't kill them any deader than the 30-30.
Like Pawildman said you could use the 300win mag it's still a 30 cal like the 06 but why? Why carry the extra wieght of a mag rifle, the extra expense of ammo.
If it was the only gun the guy had and didn't have the money for another gun .....ok but he's looking to build a gun and in my opinion there's better choices than the 300 win mag

Most deer in NY are taken within 50yds!If you hunt a lot of farms where shots can get longer I would go with a 7-08.Plenty enough reach,mild recoil,and available in most any action.IMO one of the best ever.

I am new to this board and going to give you the benefit of the doubt that you aren't trolling. If I am wrong, so be it.

When I bought the Leupold, it came with 308 turrets and 300 winmag turrets. I unpacked my gun room and cannot find the 300 winmag turrets. I didn't have a 300 winmag before last month so god only knows what i did with those turrets.

I had 66 acres at my old house (115 at this new house) and built a nice shooting range. I have been collecting weapons (and I am a C&R FFL) for some time and own a lot of weapons but have never been a hunter prior to moving to this new home. I have lots of glass, and since I trade weapons with friends I sometimes end up having a piece of glass that doesn't have a home. Right now I have a Leupold LRT 3M 3.5-10 that used to live on a M1A National Match and I had to sell the M1A, Socom-II, and some Class 3 stuff because I moved from GA to NY. So I presently have a $1.2K Leuopold, 3 or 4 crappy Bushnells, a pair of EOTech's (had to ditch my AR15's as well), and some other glass with no rifle.

Back to the conundrum. If I use either my 20" fluted PSS or my 26" non fluted PSS, they both already have Pentax Lightseeker 30 scopes with Kenton Tuned Trajectory Compensators set for 168 grain FMJ. I love target shooting with those, and I would hate to have to ditch the match triggers or change up the scopes since both are dialed in quite well. Also, I am not sure a match trigger would be good for hunting - seems to me a hunting trigger would have more than 3 lbs of pull, no?

I got the 770 for cheap and since I didn't have a 300 winmag before that I grabbed it from a friend. The 700 Classic in 338 WinMag I bought because it was only made 1 year and is collectable (1981 was the year for that). It came magnaported. I added a 30mm Nikon Scope since I figured some day it would be a good rifle for elk hunting. Not sure how much the scope was, but I am guessing it was about $600.

For those that are weapons enthusiasts, you can see photos of most of my stuff at http://www.smugmug.com/gallery/3262101_VeeZj

I moved to NY so some stuff is different. I ditched my new AR15's for old SP1's, traded the SOCOM-II for a Gewehr-43, traded the SA M1A National Match for a preban Polytech, and traded the modern AK47 for one from the 1970's. Those additions aren't photographed yet but I may get around to photographing the whole collection again since changes have occurred. Also, no longer have the Uzi Mini or the M11A1 since NY doesn't allow Class 3 either.

I bought 115 acres. The open area is about 3,500 feet by 1,500 feet, and behind that I have woods that are about the same dimensions give or take. I think my total land seems to be about 3,500 feet by 3,000 feet. I own a pair of 30-06 but those are M1 Garands I bought from the CMP. My 308's are a pair of 700 PSS, an FN-FAL from Israel, and I think that's about it. I don't own a 30-30. I bought a lever action, but it's 45-70. Once I figure out a rifle, I also need to find a ton of information on hunting since I have not hunted since I was in the Air Force in Utah in the early 80's. I know nothing at all about hunting; but with all the deer and wild turkeys I see almost every day on my land I figured I could save a ton of money compared to buying cow meat at the store.

I don't own a 7-08. I had a Winchester 270 WSM I bought some time ago for my son, but I traded that to a buddy of mine recently because I figured it would never get shot. Right now it seems I can either buy an XCR on gunsamerica, use one of my 700 benchrest rifles, or use that 700 classic. Though the 700 classic is rare and I would cry if I damaged the wood accidentally.

Welcome to NY Snappo and welcome to the forum.

So, it's not Larry after all..............way to nice !

Welcome Snappo, hope you enjoy up state.

Formerly from NJ and hunted the tri-state area as a kid.

I miss the hard woods being in SoCal.

I once mounted a Swarovski on top of a Remington 710 for a customer a few years ago. No ****, You can't make this stuff up.

Since you are new to the board and this was your first post I was wondering the same about you. We get a lot of trolls here that ask very similar questions their first time around and never return or just continue the charade until they get banned. It seems that you actually are quite serious about your question though.


I would honestly take that 770 and try to get your money back out of it and put it into something like a .308, 7mm-08, .270, etc... Rem 700, Howa 1500, Winchester 70, etc... The cheapest 700 is ten times the rifle that the 770 is.

Since you are familiar with the .308 and the PSS/LTR type of rifles a great inexpensive rifle that would feel very similar would be a Remington 700 SPS tactical in .308. I think it would be perfect for your needs.

If you are fine with the recoil I would use the .338 Win mag I would use it until you purchased another rifle. The big heavy bullets of the .338 actually create less meat damage than a .243 would. My .338 RUM causes very little blood shot meat compared to my smaller cartridges with more fragile bullets.

Welcome to the site! Thats a fine collection of guns you have there!!!

How I found this board was to google a few words together. I think it was Forum + Hunting + rifle or some such. I was thinking I needed to get advice on weapons, where to build my deer blind on the property, etc. I really do want to start hunting. I enjoyed it while at Hill AFB and I am thinking I probably spend $2K a year on meat from the store. Plus for health I have to assume deer has WAY less fat on it than the crap I buy at the store.

I will take your suggestion and work on the 338 WinMag. I just know I wanted to put a JP Recoil Eliminator on it eventually since it was a magnum, and I am worried that I can't do that because the rifle came magnaported already.

Tomorrow is my birthday, so I told my wife I would like to get a Remington XCR this summer, and I can move the Leupold over to that rifle. I might get it in 30-06 because I bought two huge wooden cases of 30-06 when I lived driving distance to the CMP in Anniston. So I think that's 1,800 rounds or so.

I heard Swarovski is really amazing glass. I never bought one of those or a Zeiss. Pretty much the most I spend is $1.2K for a Leupold or $700 for a Pentax. One of the most beautiful scopes I own is a Springfield Armory scope. Those were made in Japan and they are very bright and have a build in level inside the scope. They were so wonderful that you can't get them anymore. ;-(

Welcome to the forum.

Fully agree....pure bullspit!

Thanks. I ended up getting an XHR today for my birthday in 30-06.

Thanks to everyone that gave advice. Once we are done with a thread do we ask the moderator to go ahead and close the topic?

3,500 posts, and that's how you respond to new posters? I take it you spend more time trolling than hunting? I may be new to this forum but not to the concept of forums in general. Sadly, your kind is too well known in the world of forums. Do yourself a favor and don't troll or leg hump me - I really can't be bothered babysitting you.

Don't pay attention to Vapo.

Welcome to the forum!

Nope it's in the forum forever i believe.It can be opened anytime by replying to it..Happy Birthday and i think you made a wise purchase.Enjoy hunting in NY it offers some good opportunities.